


Tied up with a bow

by ElenaHana



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Rated For Violence, loyalty mission but with a spin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 04:49:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29869416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElenaHana/pseuds/ElenaHana
Summary: Revenge is a dish best served cold.And best served when you least expect it.What if there was a third way of finishing Zaeed's loyalty mission?
Relationships: Zaeed Massani/Female Shepard
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	Tied up with a bow

_I could get used to this ‘being goddamn heroes’ business_ , Zaeed thought.

The day he accepted the Illusive Man's contract and crossed paths with Shepard, he remembered thinking that the odds he would come out unscathed from this one – despite his tendency to survive just about anything – were slim to none at best. Still, money was money (and a lot of it, in fact) and he figured that he would either go out with a bang or live long enough to enjoy the cash. Good enough outcome either way.

It was proof of Shepard's damn unebelievable mix of guts and skill that the suicide mission inside the Collectors’ base went like it did and that they all got out with only a few injuries. Not one loss.

And now, he had the money, his contract was over (no way he would accept any more deals with the Illusive Man. He didn't much care who hired him as long as they paid, but this was skirting the line a bit too much even for one such as himself) and he would soon need to decide where to go once Shepard docked the Normandy and declared him free to go.

It would all be goddamn perfect if not for the fact that Vido had gotten away right under his nose. Twenty years of chasing the son of a bitch around the galaxy and it was all for nothing because of a group of workers and Shepard's meddling.

The woman's decision had baffled him so much he had barely been able to throw a pair of expletives at her face. Since boarding the Normandy, Zaeed had watched her solve problems in a cold and calculating way, often a little too trigger-happy to fall in line with the Alliance modus operandi. If somebody was standing in her way, she had no qualms about skipping the ‘talking down’ part and going right to the shooting one.

Apparently, her moral compass had decided to start pointing north once again right in time to crash his plans for vengeance. Just his goddamn luck.

Since then, he had more or less begrudgingly come to terms with that failure of a mission.

Mostly.

Zaeed had told Shepard he would put his own revenge on the backburner for the mission's sake, and it had mostly been true. Still, some days the bile rose up and he felt like putting a bullet in the first thing or person he saw out of rage.

Shepard – thoughtful bitch that she was – sensed his moods and left him to stew instead of trying to push his buttons like she had done before, when she had made it clear she wanted to get inside his trousers.

Too bad though. Slamming her down on his cot and fucking her until everyone noticed her limping gait would have been one hell of a way to make him forget about Vido for an hour or two.

He had way too much time to stew in his own thoughts these days. With the Collectors dealt with and the ties with Cerberus cut, Shepard was left playing errand girl for whoever asked for help these days.

Zaeed knew she had an important mission from Admiral Hackett lined up, but she was evidently procrastinating in favor of other business. Business she hadn't deigned to make him privy to, given the number of times she had been going planetside without him lately.

Truth is, he had grown used to being a regular member of her ground team. Even though he was aware of his own merit in battle, there was still something humbling about being trusted enough to watch the back of the galaxy's most respected Commander.  
Doubtful she brought him along for eye candy, although he had often turned around to spot her watching him with appreciative eyes when they were not in immediate danger.

The same appreciative eyes she had whenever she visited him in the cargo bay and plopped her butt on a crate to listen to one of his stories (he had started bullshitting his way to a few makeshift ones because Shepard spent more time with him than in her quarters). The same eyes he got rewarded with when he kissed her silly and lost both of their clothes on their way to his cot.

Shepard usually left once they were done, spirited away by either a vidcom call, a reminder from Edi or whatever everyone needed from her, but there had been a few times when she hadn't been in a hurry and Zaeed had mindlessly tucked her against his side. The look in her eyes had been slightly reminiscent of the usual one she reserved for him, but softer.

“I can't believe the big bad merc likes to snuggle”, Shepard had prodded him.

“I ain't hearing you complain, Shepard,” he had mumbled against her hair.

There hadn't been many of those moments since Zorya, Zaeed thought while stuffing some of his stuff inside a container. None, to be precise.

Deciding it was time to break out of his morose mood, Zaeed shed his armor on the bench and went to take a shower.

Apparently, the universe had other plans, because his omni-tool pinged right after he got under the hot spray.

 _It can wait_ , he groused. Then he spotted Shepard's name in the sender field and curiosity got the best of him. She had been gone for hours for whatever important shit she was doing without him. What could the message be about?

With a swipe of his finger, the interface lit up and formed a set of coordinates followed by a terse “Get here asap. Don't make me wait”

_Uh._

Doubtful she was in immediate danger, or she would have put herself in radio contact with Moreau or Lawson first instead.

Zaeed didn't think twice about cutting his shower short, toweling himself dry and walking back to his quarters to don the armor once again. He didn't even balk at the thought that he was willingly putting himself at Shepard's every beck and call. She got under his skin in a way no one had ever done.

Once the coordinates were relayed to him, Moreau confirmed that the destination was located an hour of Mako away from where the Normandy was currently stationed. The resulting shuttle trip brought him in front of an industrial complex that resembled way too much the one on Zorya.

Seen one facility, seen them all.

It did have the effect of making the ever-present sting connected to Zorya flare up again, though.

Zaeed tamped it down. He would find the bastard again, even if he had to spend another twenty years hunting him.

As it was, his plan was short-lived.

The moment the doors of the facility were open, he found himself inside a big and mostly empty room, aside from a bunch of machinery lining the far wall and piles of crates all over. And, in the middle of said room, Vido Santiago tied and chained up on the ground, a pool of blood widening underneath him. Once Zaeed had walked close enough, he noticed it was due to several bullet wounds in his legs.

“Sorry for those. Once I got the others killed, he tried to escape like last time and we couldn't have a repeat of that, could we.” Shepard said, coming to stand beside Vido.

When Zaeed turned his head around to fix his good eye on her but said nothing in reply, she continued. “Also, sorry for the secrecy. The mission on Zorya left a bad taste in my mouth. It was unfinished business, and I did promise you I would fix it. I always keep my promises.  
So I collected a few favours, put out some feelers, kept my eyes peeled in case one of them came back with useful news. You know, the usual. Your man seems to have become a bit too complacent. Or sloppy. Because once I received word of his last known location, it was surprisingly easy to take out his goons and have him with his back against the wall. Not that I’m complaining.”

Shepard's lips then stretched into a full grin. “I don't think I can ask my men to hold him down, but I trust you’ll like your present. All tied up with a bow.  
Oh, and this facility actually serves no purpose, so you've got choices. A bullet between the eyes, set the building on fire... up to you.”

A small part of Zaeed's brain was grumbling non-stop because _hah_. That was the least she could do after putting a rod into his plans.

The rest was already making plans to take the damn glorious woman out for dinner and then go down on her until she begged him to stop.

"I hope silence is a good reaction? Oh, wait." A twitch from Vido caught her attention. "He’s waking up."

Naturally, the bastard started spouting bullshit as soon as his eyes were open. Trying to goad him into losing his calm, probably. "What is it, Zaeed. You need your woman to do the dirty work for you in your old age? Couldn't risk wasting another twenty years to get your hands on me?"

His laughter was cut short by a kick in the ribs delivered by Shepard. She prodded him with the armored toe of her boot. "If you prefer to be passed out when he makes you eat steel, just say so. The only reason you got away once is because of a choice I made, otherwise you'd have been dead that day on Zorya. And he didn't need to ask shit of me, I just think assholes like you need to be taken out like the trash they are."

Shepard stepped in front of Vido, leaning down and looming over him. "And don't you talk about dirty tricks to me, you slimy fucker. See what it feels like to be held down while waiting for someone to put a bullet or two in your skull."

She took a few steps back and looked up at him. "Sorry, got a bit carried away. Present's all yours to be enjoyed."

That said, Shepard walked away towards the entrance doors.

Zaeed's hand reflexively moved to the pistol secured to his leg and, sensing the tune had changed, Vido started visibly sweating and let out a string of garbled words, begging him to stop in the name of old times.

Zaeed pointed the barrel between Vido's eyes, the click of the safety lock being lifted drowned under the other man's words.

"Save that for somebody else, you son of a bitch."

And then it was over.

His revenge laid on the dirty floor of a nondescript building, blood and brain splattered around him like a halo.

Apparently, not everyone was able to take a gunshot to the head at point blank range and live to tell the tale. Funny that.

  
  


***

  
  


"I had no idea this was what had been taking up your time lately." Zaeed commented.

The heavy doors clanged shut behind them while they walked towards the Mako for the return trip.

Shepard shrugged. "Didn't seem right to leave you empty-handed after you had fulfilled your contract and after I had helped every other member of my crew with their business.

"Plus, it was starting to feel really lonely on the Normandy. All that whiskey and no one to share it with in exchange for a couple of good mercenary tales.  
Helping you track the bastard – without hiccups this time - was a good bargain."

If Zaeed had felt like getting into an introspective mood, he would have acknowledged the fact that even before today his rage had already cooled down considerably. Ending a chase that had lasted twenty years felt almost anticlimactic.

Still, it was good to finally be able to slam that chapter of his life closed. And it felt even better knowing that Shepard had once again gone out of her way to do stuff for someone like him.

And it apparently also meant that he wasn't the only one missing the long hours they spent in the starboard cargo.

They both stopped in front of the Mako, but Shepard didn't immediately jump aboard. Instead, she turned to face him.

"Hmm, you know. I've always loved those vids where the heroes swoop in, do the deed and then walk towards the horizon with guns blazing and huge explosions at their back," Shepard said, looking sideways at him with a coquettish smirk.

He lifted an eyebrow at her. "That why there were half burst pipes and explosives casually arranged around the place?"

It earned him a noncommittal shrug, the smile still stamped on her lips. She fished a device out of one of her spare ammo pouches and offered it to him.

If the surprise had felt good, the sound of the loud explosion destroying the facility and the small chuckle of glee coming from Shepard were an even better end to it.

As was the bruising kiss she gave him afterwards.

He would examine the rest of his feelings later.

If he had any say in it, he would be busy showing Shepard how thankful he was for several hours first.

  


**Author's Note:**

> So, this Shepard of mine - Christina - is mainly Renegade, but I don't think she would just let the factory's workers die like that. Most people? Yeah. Innocent bystanders? Maybe not so much.  
> So I just crammed one more scene inside ME2 to give this sexy and angry old merc his vendetta even after solving his official Loyalty mission the Paragon way. It's already an imaginary romance either way, what's one more scene, am I right?  
> Plus, Chris likes explosions.
> 
> Art by yours truly  
> Credits and thanks to my lovely Lala for beta-ing my work <3


End file.
